Coronado shares slump after lowered guidance
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More news: Shares in Coronado Global Resources have slumped more than 15% to 92.5 cents after the coal miner lowered its full-year production guidance and increased cost estimates following heavy rainfall at its operations in Queensland.
The company now expects saleable production of 15.4 million metric tonnes to 16 MMt, down from the previous guidance range of 16.4 MMt to 17.2 MMt. Average mining cost is now expected to be between $105 and $110 per tonne, up from a range of $95 to $99.
Coronado lowers guidance as rainfall hits operations
The news: Coal miner Coronado Global Resources has lowered its production guidance and increased expected costs for the year ending December 2024, after rainfall impacted its operations in Queensland.
The numbers: Coronado revised down its saleable production guidance range from between 16.4 million metric tonnes (MMt) and 17.2 MMt to between 15.4 MMt and 16 MMt. Average mining cost per tonne sold is now guided at between $105 and $110, up from $95 to $99.
The miner reaffirmed its capital expenditure guidance at between $220 million and $250 million for the year, but expects to arrive at "the upper end" of the range due to accelerated expansion works at its Buchanan mine in the US.
Coronado said its Curragh mine in Queensland was negatively impacted by required mechanical repairs to its overland conveyor, while subsequent rainfall levels were more than three times the 10-year monthly average for the area.
The context: Brisbane-based Coronado noted the impacts of recent rainfall were "well in excess of forecast" and subsequent delays to pre-strip activities has resulted in some coal production being deferred into 2025.
Following the elevated rainfall experienced at Curragh in August and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology's expectations of a La Nina weather pattern, Coronado said it is reporting a more conservative production forecast for Q4 2024, assuming above-average rainfall levels for the rest of the year.
However, due to large stockpiles, Coronado said it expects 2024 sales volumes to exceed saleable production.
What they said: "The impacts from wet weather and subsequent deferral of production to FY 2025 do not derail out short-term strategic objectives which remain on target, to complete our organic growth projects at Buchanan and the Mammoth Underground at Curragh," said Coronado's managing director and CEO Douglas Thompson.
"These projects we expect will deliver substantially higher production rates from FY 2025 and will significantly de-risk our operations against weather impacts, mechanical issues and bottlenecks in the future."
The source: ASX announcement
